Bedbye Kiss
by mirai aria
Summary: Set before the Gravitation timeline Life before Kitazawa Yuki had been happy for Eiri and Tohma. Especially for Tohma.


**Disclaimer:** Gravitation no belong to me. It belong to Murakami-sensei and her publisher and all that. Def'ly not me.

  
**A/N** Cleaning the backlog of unposted and unedited fanfics in my stash. I might as well get rid of the ones I just never got to posting or never got to bug people to edit so I can move on and work on other fics in peace And yes, I like Tohma. :D

* * *

**Bedbye Kiss**

* * *

The sound of slippers padding across the smooth wooden floors caught one hard-at-work musician's ears and said musician instantly whipped his head around to lay his green eyes on whatever stood behind him. Sure enough, they found themselves upon the same small blond boy he saw every night at this time. The boy with wide, innocent amber eyes, soft, silken blond hair falling over them and a kind, gentle smile would always stand before the door that lead to his own bedroom in the flat they shared before finally retiring in his own bed until he noticed. 

"Eiri-kun." The musician greeted with the same gentle smile he gave the boy every night before rising from his seat and setting the pen he'd been using to write his latest composition aside, on top of his Yamaha keyboards. Eiri smiled at him before taking a step forward. "Working late again, Tohma?"

Tohma laughed, "Yeah." He paused and lifted a hand to brush a few strands of overgrown fringes away from his eyes before pushing up the pair of glasses he wore and whose existence he more-than-often forgot about. "Sleeping?"

Eiri nodded and pointed at the clock across the living room, the big grandfather clock Tohma bought on his first day in New York just because Eiri liked the idea of having something purely Western in their flat. The clock read ten-thirty and that meant bedtime for little Eiri-kun. Sometimes, Tohma wondered how Eiri was so _good_ and obedient. A fourteen-year-old boy who hardly ever complained about bedtime and followed every single thing his sister's _fiancé_ said was virtually unheard of. Tohma was almost sure he had done something very good in his past life to have a very compliant, not to mention, _loveable_ brother-in-law-to-be. When he offered to take Eiri to New York with him, he had expected, no, had even prepared himself for whatever ugly trait Eiri hid under his shy, innocent cover. The way things looked like now, it seemed, Eiri was all that he showed.

"It's getting late now." Eiri said after a while then he pointed to Tohma, "You should sleep too. Mika wouldn't like her favorite rock star getting eye bags." He paused and smiled, though the smile looked more like a smirk than an innocent one, "She's picky, of course. But you know that, don't you?"

Tohma really liked how Eiri could switch from being completely innocent to utterly mischievous then back and _still_ get away with it. He could never bring himself to _dislike_ the boy, it was as if he radiated "love me" vibes he obviously was _not_ immune to. This was one of the reasons he looked forward to being Eiri's brother-in-law. Mika was the man package, Eiri was the wonderful, adorable, darn perfect extra that came along with her.

"Of course I do, I wouldn't have lasted a year with her like I did now, wouldn't I, Eiri-kun?" He grinned and Eiri mirrored the grin on his face, "Come'ere, I want my Goodnight kiss!" He let his tone become playful and a playful frown took Eiri's face into unbelievable levels of cuteness. Tohma thought he could die cuddling Eiri right then and there, which he was sure, would _not_ look good on Nittle Grasper, or himself for that matter. Besides, he was sure that if he died in that manner, Mika would somehow find a way to resurrect him or, at least, prevent his soul from taking is mandated 'Journey to Eternity' what with all the mystical rituals her family kept hid in its, rhetorical, sleeve. And that wouldn't be for them to _be married _even after his death, it would all be so she could torture him instead for not marrying her in his living state, he was sure. That was _not_ a very good future.

Eiri smiled and walked up to him, his slippers making quiet sounds on the wooden floor and then muffled ones on the carpet. The boy wrapped his long slender arms around him and the difference between his height and the boy's reminded Tohma that Eiri was, indeed, _still_ a boy on his way to adulthood and that he required as much help, encouragement and protection until he became a man.

A pair of rounded golden eyes looked up to him, innocently, teeming with vulnerability and Tohma could not help but feel a pride welling up within him. He would protect this boy no matter what, make sure he became the adult he was already showing signs of becoming. And all the while, he would work hard to keep that rare, close-knit relationship between them in tact. For as long as he could, he planned to keep Eiri like this towards him; completely trusting. He wrapped his arms about the boy's shoulder in turn, smiling.

"Goodnight, Tohma." Eiri whispered, his mouth maintaining a smile as he spoke the words. Tohma pouted before quickly removing one of his hands around Eiri and pointing at his right cheek. He turned his head sideways and leaned downwards slightly, "My kiss?"

A light amused laugh escaped Eiri's lips. The boy grinned and frowned. "Sure." He stood on his toes and leaned forward before planting a simple peck on the older blond's cheeks and then retreating hastily. Tohma frowned and he looked down at the boy accusingly, mustering the most hurt look he could accomplish against a pair of golden eyes blinking innocently back at him.

"So! I'm sleeping now, Tohma!" Eiri chirped innocently. Tohma pouted, hard.

"That didn't have any sound." He paused and frowned, "I want a _loud_ 'SMACK'." Eiri grinned and began pulling away but Tohma held him in place. "I want my goodnight kiss." He drew his eyebrows together. "…with sound this time. So… again!" he commanded and then tilted his head sideways once more.

Eiri frowned, a faint blush coloring his otherwise pale white cheeks, showing embarrassment but the slight smile on his lips told otherwise. He pulled Tohma downwards, enough so his arms were wrapped around the older man's neck and planted a quiet kiss on the man's cheeks before drawing away and then making a loud smacking sound.

"That was delayed!" Tohma complained instantly, pressing his lips together as he kept his head at level with Eiri, who grinned sheepishly. Tohma knew that sheepish smile was better translated as 'mischievous smile'.

The boy leaned forward closer and the smacked before planting another silent, soundless kiss on his cheek. That did _not_ satisfy Tohma who frowned and simply said, "Advanced."

Eiri giggled lightly, one of the things he was sure no self-respecting fourteen-year-old boy would normally do, "I can't time as accurately like you, Mr, Keyboard-san, so the sound's a bit off."

Tohma grinned, predatorily so, and tilted his head so his hard green gaze met with the boy's. He allowed himself to look like the Tohma that grazed magazines all over Japan on a monthly, if not weekly _or daily_ basis; predatory, calculating and utterly evil underneath his innocent smiles. "Well then, _Eiri-san_, we'll just have to keep you kissing my cheek like this until we get the timing right, now, don't we?"

"Won't you get tired, Tohma?" Eiri lifted a hand and pointed innocently towards the stack of papers sitting neatly on his keyboard behind them. "Don't you have work to do, Tohma?"

"Oh…. I don't know, I'm sure they can wait." Tohma said just as innocently, allowing only a hint of amusement to touch his lips as he looked down.

"Then I suppose I'll have to try now, ne, Tohma?"

Tohma nodded and closed his eyes. He tilted his head sideways again and pouted, "Kiss… kiss…" he murmured and once again felt the small boy's hands on his neck.

He felt a tiny peck and a slightly delayed smooching sound and frowned. That was obviously _not_ the kiss he was looking for.

"Still not satisfied, Eiri-kun." He pouted and heard the boy's quiet giggles. He opened his eyes and watched the boy closely at the edge of his vision. "See, I can do this for as long as I need to, I like hogging kisses from cute adorable boys like you—"

"I'll tell your secrets to Mika!" Eiri teased with a laugh. Tohma froze. Eiri was kidding about that, wasn't he?

"Not if you drop dead kissing me!" He warned playfully and Eiri laughed more as the older man hugged him tightly. "Now KISS or you'll have one long night of unnatural insomnia ahead of you, Eiri-boy!"

"Insomnia aren't natural to begin with, Tohma!" Eiri cried in protest as those very talented fingers began circling sensitive, _ticklish,_ spots making him squirm and laugh uncontrollably. "S-stop… Tohma!" Eiri managed in-between fits of laughter but the older man continued his relentless tickling. "Stop! Ahh! S-stop!" The boy wrapped his hands around the arms that held him in place in an attempt to make the tickling stop or to at least slow it. "To-Tohma! I'll… K-KISS! KISSSS!"

Tohma stopped abruptly, let go and stepped backwards, all with a dangerously calm face that would have unnerved the boy had he been _not_ the man's own brother-in-law to be.

"You'll kiss?" Tohma asked in a suspicious voice. Eiri nodded, his face viciously red from all the tickling.

"I'll kiss." Eiri said breathlessly.

"Good." Tohma, once again for the nth time that night, leaned forward and offered his cheek, even going as far as pointing very pointedly at the spotless spot on his cheek as if Eiri could actually miss it. "I want my kiss nice, loud and _authentic, _Eiri-kun!"

Eiri smiled and Tohma, who caught it, mirrored the smile though he was sure his smile could never be as sincere and purely innocent as Eiri's was.

The boy leaned forward and, finally, planted a thick kiss that didn't sound much and whose 'smack' came a few precious seconds too late on Tohma's cheek. It wasn't the kiss he'd been bullying the boy to give him, but it was the kiss he _wanted_. He smiled and pushed the boy away from with a grin.

"Okay, you _may_ sleep now, Eiri-kun." He announced and Eiri smiled gratefully. The boy began heading back to his room and Tohma sat himself down beside his keyboard, ready to get back to work only to sit up moments later and stop the boy momentarily.

"Don't sleep in too much, Eiri-kun." He reminded, "You're meeting your new tutor tomorrow." The boy twisted his body and looked to him questioningly. Tohma smiled and nodded, answering the questioning look in the boy's eyes.

"I took the libery of getting one while you weren't looking." Tohma filled in, "He's an old classmate." He paused and the slight creasing on Eiri's delicate eyebrows told Tohma more than he knew the boy was willing to say. "Don't worry," he laughed lightly, "He's Japanese, you two will understand each other just fine."

"I'm glad." Eiri sighed and smiled at his guardian. "Ne, what's his name?"

Tohma folded his arms on his chest and grinned, "Interested already? It's Kitazawa, Kitazawa Yuki. He's a writer too so you two should get along well enough."

The word 'writer' caught Eiri's attention immediately and Tohma smiled inwardly, knowing ahead of time that this would happen, as he took in at the way Eiri's eyes shone with optimism. "Really?"

"Really." Tohma confirmed and before he knew it, Eiri was standing beside him in an instant and was hugging him.

"Thank you, Tohma!" Eiri cried before kissing him on the cheek. "You always know what I want!"

"If I always knew what you wanted, I wouldn't be your sister's fiancé." He told the boy, grinning before reaching forward and ruffling the boy's hair. "Now sleep, you, Eiri-kun."

"Hai!" Eiri swooped down and planted one last kiss on Tohma's cheek before grinning and jogging towards his room. He stopped by his doorway, with one hand twisting the knob, and turned around. "Goodnight, Tohma!" He turned and then stopped before turning around again. "_Don't let the bed bugs bite!" _he cried out suddenly in English before darting into his room and closing the door behind him. Tohma laughed and spun on his chair, returning to his composition.

If he had the power to do one thing that defied everything else, if he was given a chance to tamper with reality, if he was given the power of God for just one moment, he knew what he'd ask for, what he'd make happen. He would make it so that Eiri remained like this forever; protective, innocent and untainted by the world's harsh reality. He was no God, he had no special powers, but he knew he would do everything within his power to keep that purity unspoiled.

And God help him if anything or anyone were to spoil that purity because he knew, right at that moment, that he would be more than willing to throw everything away in an instant for vengeance.

* * *


End file.
